The Incredible Story of Mari Mallone
by Apollonia
Summary: The Slayer's granddaughter is called. Secrets of the past are revealed and one girl must come to terms with her past & future. b/a.
1. The Calling Of Mari

Disclaimer: I don't own Buffy or Angel or anyone you recognise. Mari Mallone is mine. Author's note: I wrote this ages ago, after Season Four. Everything in canon up to S4 has happened, but after that, it diverges from canon.  
  
  
  
The Incredible Story of Mari Mallone  
  
***  
  
Sunnydale, California. 2038.  
  
The sun had set, and so it was time for Mari Mallone to go for her regular evening run. This she did every night, along the beach. She was putting her sneakers on when she heard a noise behind her. She turned to see her grandfather standing there.  
  
"What now?"  
  
Silently, he handed her a small bottle of water and a crucifix. She sighed.  
  
"Thank you." she put them in her pocket and then jumped down from the porch onto the soft sand, before sprinting off down the beach.  
  
Her grandfather frowned. He didn't like her running along so deserted a beach at night time. But Mari was just like her grandmother: stubborn, feisty, independent. At the thought of her, his lips curved up in a smile. He sat on the porch, waiting for Mari's return. When she did return a half hour later, he inwardly thanked whoever it was for letting her come back safely.  
  
"You're still here?" she asked him. "Don't you ever have anything better to do? There must be something on TV. Something old? Something new? Re-runs?" She tried to cajole him, but she knew it was a waste of time.  
  
"How much harm is going to come to me on the beach?" she said to him. Seeing the look on his face, she knew she shouldn't have sounded quite so careless.  
  
"I can take care of myself, you know." she said firmly.  
  
"I know." he spoke for the first time. He got up.  
  
"Drink?" he asked her, leading her inside. She only knew half the story. If she knew the other half of the story, she wouldn't be running along the beach like that. He was scared for her.  
  
***  
  
The very next day at school, Mari was sitting waiting for her best friend in the whole world, Heather Osbourne, when a tall, striking man came over. He was wearing a tweed suit, which stood out amongst all the up to the minute fashions around the school.  
  
"Mari Mallone?" he asked in a serious English accent.  
  
"Yeah?" she looked up at him, squinting in the sun.  
  
"You must come with me. There isn't very much time. Your destiny awaits." he said urgently. Mari's heart sank. She'd been told this might happen. But she hadn't believed it. Well, until now.  
  
"OK, OK." she said, gathering up her bag and following him.  
  
***  
  
"As long as there have been vampires, there has been the slayer," he began solemnly.  
  
"One girl in all the world, a chosen one, born with the strength and skill to hunt the vampires." she finished for him in a sing song voice. He looked at her, alarmed.  
  
"How do you know about the slayer?"  
  
"Can you say Buffy Summers?" she said, in a half bored, half bragging tone.  
  
"How did you know Buffy?"  
  
"I didn't. She died.... Buffy is my grandmother." she said.  
  
"And you know of vampires and their kind?"  
  
"Well, yeah!" she said. "My granddad's been a vampire since 1753." she was actually bragging now.  
  
"You are the grandchild of Buffy Summers and Angel?" he said,  
  
"Yes. You catch on quick." she said. "Can I go now? He'll be expecting me home." She stood up, and went to leave.  
  
"You can't just leave!" he said. "You have a sacred duty."  
  
"I also have an incredibly overprotective granddaddy waiting for me." she said. "If you're so bothered, why don't you come with me?" she finished.  
  
***  
  
"Angel!" she called. She didn't call her grandfather 'granddad' because he didn't look old enough to be even her father, never mind her grandfather.  
  
"Where have you been? You're late..." Angel trailed off when he saw the tweed clad man in the doorway. Instinct told him what the deal was.  
  
"You've been called?" he said in a weak voice.  
  
"Yeah." she didn't sound too concerned.  
  
"You're sure? You're sure you definitely have the right girl?" Angel grilled the new watcher.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And your name is?"  
  
"Donald Giles. I believe you knew my father."  
  
"Rupert?" Angel said hollowly, a vision of Jenny Calendar rushing through his still-tortured mind, followed quickly by a memory of torturing Rupert.  
  
"Yes."  
  
"I knew him." said Angel, wishing he could get rid of the memories, or even better still, turn back time.  
  
"Well, Mr Angel,"  
  
"It's just Angel."  
  
"Well, I'm fully aware of your life as a, shall we say...." Giles searched for the right word, trying not to offend or annoy the old and more importantly, powerful vampire standing before him.  
  
"Vampire?" asked Angel. "I'm sure you do. You watchers kept a close eye on me."  
  
"Well, quite."  
  
"You're totally sure that Mari is the new slayer?" he repeated the question again, wishing that Mari wasn't the slayer, doomed to a life fighting the darkness.  
  
"Yes, we're quite sure. She is the slayer. You don't seem too surprised, so you must have noticed the signs yourself." said Donald Giles. Angel didn't answer. He had noticed the signs. He'd been praying to whatever God would listen to him to spare his beautiful Mari. But it wasn't to be.  
  
"She is the slayer." Donald Giles repeated, emphasising his words.  
  
"I know." said Angel in a quiet voice, resigned to outliving his granddaughter too.  
  
He'd just hoped it wouldn't be so soon. He knew that Mari would die young. Even Buffy died young, and she'd been the greatest slayer to ever fight the forces of evil.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
Sunnydale, California. 1999.  
  
"Angel!" Buffy literally bounced into the room. The curtains were all drawn, and Angel was sitting in his antique leather armchair, reading Don Juan, by Lord Byron.  
  
"Hey," he said, looking up, a smile coming to his lips. He closed the book and set it down just in time to save it from being crushed under the weight of Buffy jumping onto his lap.  
  
"Hey yourself," she said, planting a kiss on his lips.  
  
"How are you today?" he asked her. She smiled.  
  
"I'm good. There are no huge evils brewing in Sunnydale tonight, so it's just one of those nights spent wandering around graveyards, watching for vampires. My life is so boring." she said.  
  
"Wandering around graveyards in the middle of the night boring?" he joked. She looked at him with those big hazel eyes, and he felt himself melting inside.  
  
"Well, it depends who I'm wandering around with." she said in his ear.  
  
"Is that your way of asking me out on a date Ms Summers?" he said, feeling curiously jokey.  
  
"Well, yeah," she said "I don't know Angel, ever since you got that stupid happiness clause lifted, I've just felt like being close to you." her smile left her face, to be replaced with a heartrending look.  
  
"I just like being with you." she said in an oddly childlike way.  
  
"I know the feeling." he said huskily, pulling her to him for a kiss.  
  
***  
  
To say that The Bronze just wasn't happening would be an understatement. By the time Buffy and Angel arrived, Xander was about to collapse with boredom. The band which were playing seemed fixated on playing slow, mournful tunes, not the stuff Friday night dreams are made of. Then again, it was Thursday.  
  
"Buffy! Save us!" he called.  
  
"From what?" she said with a quizzical look.  
  
"The biggest demon of them all!" he said dramatically. When she didn't answer, he said,  
  
"Boredom."  
  
"The Bronze is dead tonight," said Cordelia approaching the table, and hooking her arm through Xander's.  
  
"I should probably patrol soon," said Buffy "This was only going to be a quick visit, and seeing the non-buzz atmosphere of the Bronze, it's going to be even quicker."  
  
"Do you want me to come with you?" Angel said. She smiled.  
  
"Why not? Sorry to hit and run guys, see you in the morning." she smiled at them, before she and Angel went out the way they came.  
  
***  
  
There were three vampires loitering by the back door of the Bronze. Buffy dispatched two of them easily, but the third was more determined in it's quest to bag a slayer. He hit out at her with an iron bar, but she dodged. She kicked him squarely in the chest, but he kept coming at her.  
  
"Buffy!" Angel yelled, running towards her. He threw a stake to her, which she caught, and staked the vampire with it, before he had a chance to react. She got up and dusted herself down.  
  
"Buffy? Are you all right?" he said concerned. He could smell her blood, and as she turned around he saw the tear in her jacket, and the large gash in her skin underneath.  
  
"Let me sort you out." he said, taking her arm and leading her towards his mansion. He flicked on the lights, and went straight to his well used first aid kit.  
  
"Lie down." he instructed her. She felt a little weak, but not weak enough to let the moment pass. She grinned devilishly.  
  
"Now Angel, is this really the time to have your wicked way with me?" she grinned, but he wasn't smiling.  
  
"Just lie down." he repeated. She took the torn jacket off, and then did so.  
  
Her shirt was soaked with blood, and it too was ripped. He cut open the back of the shirt, and then began cleaning the wound. It wasn't too deep, just long, and it would smart for a couple of days at least. Buffy was strong, she'd get over it. He cleaned it up, and put a dressing on over it.  
  
"All done." he said to her, proud of his handiwork, and proud of the fact he hadn't felt that all too familiar bloodlust while doing it.  
  
"Good. Will it scar? Will I be able to wear open backed clothes again?" she sounded awfully concerned.  
  
"You'll be fine." he said with the half smile he knew she loved so much.  
  
"Thank you Doctor Angel," she said in a sing song voice. "How can I ever repay you?" she finished, fluttering her eyelashes.  
  
"Don't you have to get home?" he asked, but she shook her head.  
  
"Mom's in Los Angeles art buying again. I'm all yours." she smiled up at him. He felt his own heart melt. He pulled her into his arms, careful not to hurt her fresh wounds, and kissed her deeply.  
  
***  
  
The next morning he woke up when she was getting ready to go to school. As a senior, she could maybe get away with being a little late, but Snyder was still watching over her like a hawk.  
  
"Go back to sleep." she said quietly. He opened both eyes wide. She was wearing one of his own shirts.  
  
"Why are you wearing my shirt?" he asked, confused. She held up the torn, bloodied shirt she'd been wearing last night, before throwing it into her bag.  
  
"You look bizarre," he said to her. The shirt was way, way too big on her, even though she'd tied the bottom of it up at her waist.  
  
"I know. I'm just wearing it for now, I'll stop off at home first and get one of my own." she told him. "Now you go back to sleep, and I'll come and see you after school." she bent down to kiss him gently, before running out of the door.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
"Angel?" Mari asked. He looked up from where he was sitting, looking at the ocean.  
  
"Yeah?" he said.  
  
"You don't want me to be the slayer, do you?" she said outright.  
  
"No." he replied honestly. "I don't. I want you to have the normal life Buffy always longed for and could never have. Because she was the slayer, because of me,"  
  
"Shut up." she said. He glared at her. "I'm sorry," she was instantly apologetic.  
  
"She fought evil, right?" Mari said. Angel nodded. "She was destined always to fight evil, right?" He nodded again. "So she had a normal life. A normal life for her. If she hadn't been the slayer, she would never have met you."  
  
Angel had to admit she had a fairly good point.  
  
"But you don't deserve...."  
  
"It's my destiny too. And maybe I'll meet some handsome dark stranger who'll help me." she said with a grin. She knew the idea of boyfriends made Angel seethe. Nobody was good enough for her in his mind.  
  
"You're too young to be going out with boys." he said.  
  
"I'm seventeen years old." she told him. "And I recall a certain young man who shall remain nameless having his wicked way with someone younger than me." she said. She'd hit a nerve.  
  
"I didn't mean that quite how it came out," she said quickly, knowing full well what happened the first time Angel 'had his wicked way' with Buffy.  
  
"I know. You're right," he said, resigned. "But that doesn't mean that I'll like any of the boys you bring home."  
  
"So I won't bring them home." she taunted him good naturedly. Fortunately, he saw the funny side. He smiled slightly, before saying,  
  
"You must not let anyone know who you are. It has to stay secret, for their sakes." he said slowly. She grimaced.  
  
"Another secret? Gee, cause I don't have enough of them. Like the fact that my grandfather looks like he's twenty seven, when in reality he's only a decade or two short of being three hundred years old, and I have to pretend he's my uncle I live with because I'm orphaned." she said it all in rush. Angel looked sad.  
  
"I'm sorry."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For not being able to give you a normal life."  
  
"This is a normal life. For me. My granddad the good vampire, slaying the bad vampires, not much has changed."  
  
***  
  
"So, you're like, the slayer now?" Heather asked her friend. "Far out."  
  
"I know. And Angel's totally wigging about it." said Mari.  
  
"If Ms Osbourne and Ms Mallone would give us their full attention?" called their history teacher from the front of the class.  
  
"We'll talk later," said Heather, ever the conscientious student. Mari nodded, and attempted to concentrate.  
  
***  
  
"That car wasn't here earlier!" exclaimed Mari, as she and Heather walked up the path to Mari's front door. She was excited, as was Heather. Because the state of the art, up to the minute Mercedes-Benz parked outside the house could mean only one thing:  
  
"Uncle Xander!" Mari called out as she flung open the door. Indeed, Xander Harris and his wife Cordelia were sitting in the kitchen with Angel, and Heather's grandmother Willow.  
  
"Aw, look Heather, the Scooby Gang back together." said Mari with a wicked grin. Angel shot her a look.  
  
"Ms Mallone, I hope you've been working hard at school." said Xander, knowing full well that Mari and school were not the greatest combination. He smiled as Mari squirmed slightly under their gaze.  
  
"Of course," she shot back. Xander threw her a 'Yeah right' look, which he was careful to keep hidden from Angel.  
  
Mari looked at Xander. The years had been kind to him, and to Cordelia, but there was no escaping the fact that they were beginning to get old. They were both fifty seven years old, the age her grandmother would have been. Cordelia still had long brown hair, but Mari knew she dyed it, and the face was a little too perfect to not have been tampered with by the best surgeons in California.  
  
As for Willow, her flaming red hair was a little less flaming than it once had been, with long streaks of grey running through it. She now wore glasses, and the sparkle in her eyes had lost some of it's, well, sparkle. Mari knew that it was because of her grandmother.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
"Angel?" she called quietly. The mansion seemed to be empty. Buffy went further inside, but Angel wasn't there. Damn. She needed to speak to him, like now.  
  
"Angel. Quit being Cryptic Disappearing Guy," she said to the empty mansion. At that very moment, the door opened, and Angel came in, carrying a plastic bag full of what looked like packets of pig's blood. He seemed surprised to see her.  
  
"Buffy?"  
  
"Hi. I needed to speak to you."  
  
"Just a second." he said, as he put the blood in the fridge. He went over to her, and planted a gentle kiss on her lips.  
  
"What is it?" he asked, more than a little concerned.  
  
"Well, uh, you see, well," she stammered, her face flushing. He smiled at her, and sat her down next to him on his bed.  
  
"What is it? You can tell me." he smiled again. Buffy looked down at her feet, then at the wall, then anywhere except at Angel.  
  
"I'm pregnant." she murmured, too quiet for anyone to hear. Except for a vampire with great hearing.  
  
"Really?" he asked. She finally looked at him and just nodded. He wrapped his arms around her. He kissed her softly on the forehead.  
  
"What are you thinking?" she asked him.  
  
"I'm thinking that I love you." he said honestly. She smiled weakly.  
  
"What am I gonna do?" she sounded like a scared little girl. Which, Angel reminded himself, was exactly what she was. Suddenly, for a moment, he felt two hundred and forty seven years old. Which, he reminded himself, was exactly what he was.  
  
"We'll work it out." he said, kissing her again.  
  
"What will my mom say? What will Giles say?" she sounded absolutely petrified.  
  
"I don't know. Why don't we tell them all at the same time? That way you only have to do that once." he said.  
  
"That's a good idea." she said, not moving. Angel looked at her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Well, what are you waiting for?" he said. She looked at him. She wasn't going to be able to squirm out of it, or bluff her way out of it.  
  
***  
  
Joyce was at home, enjoying her fresh cup of coffee when there came a knock on the door. It was Giles and Willow.  
  
"Mr Giles? Willow?" she was confused as to why they were there.  
  
"Is Buffy here?" Giles asked her.  
  
"No, she's out."  
  
"We just got a phone call from her to meet her here."  
  
"Well, OK, come on in." Joyce held the door open to them, and led them into the living room.  
  
"Can I get you anything?" she asked them. Both shook their heads.  
  
There came a second knock on the door, this time, Cordelia and Xander stood there, telling Joyce that Buffy had called to have them meet her there. They had all been sitting there for just a minute when Buffy and Angel came through the door.  
  
"What is it?" Joyce asked. "What's the panic?"  
  
"There's no panic.... exactly." Buffy began slowly. The arm wrapped around her waist squeezed gently, supportively.  
  
"What is it?" Joyce asked again. Buffy breathed in sharply, nervously.  
  
"I'm pregnant." Buffy said simply.  
  
Her mother fell into a chair, completely stunned. Willow and Xander looked shocked, Cordelia seemed more than faintly amused, while Giles seemed a little confused, the look he got when long held beliefs were questioned, and he was having to work them over in his mind.  
  
"You're........" Joyce's voice trailed off. She looked at Angel accusingly. "You?"  
  
"Of course him!" exclaimed Buffy. "Who did you think?" she was more than a little annoyed by the idea that anyone could think she wasn't entirely in love with Angel.  
  
"W...well.. this is entirely unprecedented." Giles managed to stammer. "It's been long thought that vampires couldn't....well, couldn't."  
  
"You thought that too?" said Angel, thankful that he couldn't blush.  
  
"Do you know how totally irresponsible you are Buffy? And you?" Joyce said, over her shock enough for anger to have set in. Buffy glared, but said nothing.  
  
She looked to Giles for help, but he was too busy considering a pregnant slayer. How was he supposed to tell The Council that their eighteen year old slayer was pregnant? And by a vampire?  
  
"Well, I think you should go to your room now. We'll talk about this tomorrow." said Joyce, still angry. Buffy stood her ground for a moment, but suddenly felt tired.  
  
"All right." she said softly. The arm which had been around her waist the whole time loosened.  
  
"We'll see you tomorrow Buffy." said Willow, rising to leave.  
  
"Thanks Will." where Buffy expected to see condemnation in her friend's face, she saw only love and support. Willow squeezed Buffy's shoulder as she left.  
  
Xander, on the other hand, seemed a little more angry. But he fought it back.  
  
"See you tomorrow Buff." he said, leading Cordelia out of the door. Cordelia, for her part, just beamed at Buffy. Now only she, Joyce, Angel and Giles remained.  
  
"Well... good night Buffy. We'll talk about this tomorrow." said Giles, smiling at her a little, clearly having difficulty with exactly how he felt about the whole thing. He left, and Joyce bored holes into Angel with her eyes as he bid Buffy good night, with a tender little kiss. Without a word to her mother, Buffy went upstairs.  
  
***  
  
"Morning Buffy!" called Willow from the computer terminal. It was obvious to Buffy that they had all been discussing her, as the room had gone silent as she came in.  
  
"Buffy, how are you?" Giles was concerned.  
  
"I'm fine. How are you all? Have you decided how you all feel about this?" she said, letting them know she knew that they'd been talking about her.  
  
"Well, er, that is,"  
  
"Spit it out Giles," she said with a smile "The suspense is killing me."  
  
"I do want to congratulate you, really." he said, smiling at her.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"That goes for all of us," said Willow, joining them at the table.  
  
"We've been discussing your slayer duties in the future." began Giles.  
  
"We would have talked with you, but you were late." Willow said quickly. Buffy smiled, and waved her hands as if to say 'No big deal'.  
  
"I've contacted the council, told them of your condition. It's possible that the new slayer will be able to join us here in Sunnydale soon, so that you don't have to slay in the advanced months. Which would be difficult." said Giles.  
  
"There's not much going on at the moment, since we got the Mayor before his invincibility thing kicked in." said Xander.  
  
"Well, quite. But we do need a slayer. This is the Hellmouth after all."  
  
"Hello? I'm not going to be entirely helpless you know." said Buffy.  
  
"But we don't want you getting hurt, you know, you might..." Giles trailed off  
  
"Lose the baby." she finished quietly. That hadn't occurred to her. Her hands flew to her stomach instinctively, an action not missed by those around her.  
  
"What about school?" she asked.  
  
"Well, we've been thinking about that. You only have a couple more months before graduation, so it won't be too apparent. We've all agreed that it's best to keep it secret." At this everyone looked at Cordelia.  
  
"What? I can keep secrets you know!" she exclaimed. They looked sceptical.  
  
"I can so! What about all the stuff I know about Xander, like the time he..."  
  
"OK!" Xander cried, "We believe you!" They all grinned at him.  
  
"Well, something like this wouldn't go down well with Principal Snyder." said Willow.  
  
"Who already has a vendetta against Buffy." added Xander.  
  
"Quite. And I'm sure the inevitable teasing would be something Buffy could live without." Giles commented. Buffy nodded. She smiled. She had the support of her friends, she had Angel. Life was going to be OK.  
  
***  
  
But, her mother was a little harder to convince. She'd had enough trouble knowing that Buffy was the slayer, that she was dating a vampire, that she was really in love with that vampire. The idea that she was now pregnant by said vampire was too much. So, Buffy packed up her stuff, and moved to the mansion.  
  
"She was really that bad?" Angel asked, concerned.  
  
"Yeah. And then some more." Buffy said sadly.  
  
"She'll come round. She will. All she needs to do is see her little grandchild and she'll be fine. Trust me." he said.  
  
"It's going to be that long until she speaks to me again?"  
  
"Not necessarily. There's always ultrasounds." he said. "Don't forget, she probably doesn't think she's old enough to be a grandmother yet. Which she isn't really, so that's gotta be kind of, I don't know, scary." he reasoned. Buffy nodded.  
  
"Angel?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"There aren't any mirrors, are there?" she asked with a smile. He shook his head.  
  
"This house is not girl-friendly."  
  
"If you want it to be, then it will be." he said with a smile. He went out of the room for a minute or two, before coming in with a large thing covered in a sheet.  
  
"When I arrived here, this was in the hall. I put it in the cellar." he took the sheet off to reveal a large, beautiful antique mirror.  
  
"That's beautiful," said Buffy, taking it from him.  
  
"It's yours." he said.  
  
"Where shall I put it?" she said, before realising that it didn't matter to Angel.  
  
"Wherever you like." She considered this, knowing that he wouldn't want to walk past it all the time, and be reminded of what he was.  
  
"I'll put it in here." she said, going into the walk in closet. Angel smiled. He knew she was putting it out of the way for his benefit. His not- actually-beating-heart was warmed by her sensitivity and consideration for him.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
"We'll see you all soon," promised Xander as he and Cordelia went to leave. They got into their car and roared off into the sunset. They had come when Angel told them of Mari's destiny as the slayer. They were just as concerned as Angel was. They didn't want to see Mari die young.  
  
"We'd better get going too," said Willow, taking Heather's hand.  
  
"See you soon." said Mari, as they went down the path. In a few minutes, the sun had set entirely and Angel came out onto the porch, where Mari was watching the ocean.  
  
"Hey," he said.  
  
"Hey."  
  
"Are you OK?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"You don't sound OK." he said. "I can tell."  
  
"Congratulations Mr Super Senses." she said, before adding "Sorry."  
  
"It's OK." he paused. "You don't want to die." he said, a statement, not a question.  
  
"Course I don't. I don't know anything about being the slayer."  
  
"Neither did Buffy at first. I saw her called, you know."  
  
"Really?" Mari looked up at him.  
  
"Yeah. She was just a regular LA girl, with her mind on clothes, parties, boys."  
  
"Then she got called."  
  
"Yep. And then her mind was on clothes, parties, boys and vampires." Mari laughed.  
  
"Well, just one boy after a while." he smiled at the memory.  
  
"You."  
  
"Yeah. You know how we met?" he asked his granddaughter.  
  
"No."  
  
"She knocked me to the ground." he smiled. "It was her first day of school, she was on her way to The Bronze..."  
  
"Wait! The Bronze is that old?" she was surprised and shocked.  
  
"Yeah. The Bronze has served generations of Sunnydale youth." he smiled again.  
  
"Anyway, the story." Mari pressed.  
  
"Yeah, she was on her way to The Bronze, and I was following her,"  
  
"Doing your Stalker Boy routine."  
  
"Yeah. Could you let me finish a single sentence?"  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"I was following her, and she sensed me, and caught me by surprise. It was then that I knew she was better than most slayers before her. And it was then that I knew I loved her. Anyway, I warned her about the Harvest, and gave her a silver cross."  
  
Mari fiddled with the silver cross around her own neck.  
  
"Yeah, that one." he said, guessing what Mari was wondering. Suddenly, it became more than protection and decoration to her. It was history. Her own history.  
  
"What did she say to you?"  
  
"Not a lot. She was more annoyed than anything. She was trying to give up slaying and then I came along with news of the Harvest."  
  
"She tried to give up slaying..." mused Mari.  
  
"She moved to Sunnydale with her mom after she burned down the gym at her school in LA. She wanted a normal life, without monsters. I guess after the Harvest, she figured she'd just try to slay and have a normal life, because she couldn't get away from being the slayer."  
  
"What was she like?" Mari asked him a question she'd asked a million times before.  
  
"She was beautiful and kind and warm-hearted and loving and caring and entirely unselfish. She cared more about her friends and family than about herself. She cared more about world saving than about herself. That's what made Buffy Summers the best slayer there ever was. Every time she went out, she didn't really care if she died, just as long as she took whatever demon it was down with her." he smiled sadly. Mari took her grandfather's hand, and together, they just watched the ocean roll in and out.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
Angel stood over her. He was firm in this.  
  
"You're going."  
  
"No I am not." she said.  
  
"Yes you are."  
  
"What are you going to do? Take me there by force? It's daylight outside." she said.  
  
"No, I'm not. But Giles will, Xander will, Willow will, Cordelia, Oz. They might not be able to overpower you individually, but I'm kinda curious to see what they could do combined." he said with a wicked grin.  
  
"I'm not going." she stuck her bottom lip out stubbornly.  
  
"Buffy, this is important." Giles said from the other side of the library. Blackout material had been put up on the windows for Angel's benefit.  
  
"I'm not going!" she cried.  
  
"What's the big deal?" asked Xander. "One little doctor's appointment." his voice was heavy with sarcasm.  
  
"Yeah, I mean you fight bloodsucking fiends and big demons all the time without so much as blinking with fear. What's the big with doctors?" asked Cordelia.  
  
"Nothing. I just don't need to go." she said. She stood up. "I'm going to biology now."  
  
"Like Hell you are." said Angel. He grabbed her arms.  
  
"No! Angel, stop it!" she said, squealing with laughter as he tickled her mercilessly.  
  
"OK! I'll go!" she yelled, giving in. He stopped.  
  
"I'll take you." said Cordelia.  
  
"You will?"  
  
"Sure, I've got a car, you need transportation, and I didn't do my English homework." Cordelia grabbed her bag and led Buffy out of the room.  
  
***  
  
"What did the doctor say?" Angel asked as Buffy came through the doors of the library after her appointment.  
  
"Hello to you too Angel." she said. "Everything's fine, as I knew it would be. They want me to go to the hospital for a scan. Not for any reason, just for fun."  
  
"OK. When?"  
  
"Thursday, half five. It'll be dark by then." she added.  
  
"All right." he said. "I'll be there."  
  
"As for today, I say we party." she began. "Who's for Bronzing?"  
  
"Sure. Well, Oz is playing tonight anyway." said Willow with a smile.  
  
***  
  
The Bronze was packed to bursting when Buffy and Angel arrived, a little later than the others. They made their way to their usual table, where the Scooby Gang was waiting for them.  
  
"I don't even want to know why you're late." said Xander, with a wicked grin.  
  
"Shut up Xander," Buffy told him with a laugh. "At least we don't make out in closets."  
  
"Touché." he said, grinning at Cordelia, thinking of their own 'little secret'.  
  
"So, when does the new slayer arrive?" asked Willow, wanting to change the subject.  
  
"Who knows? Giles said the council's being vague about it all. Secrecy and stuff." Buffy told her.  
  
"Do we even know her name?"  
  
"Nope. She's been told to show up at the library and report to Giles when she arrives though. According to Giles, she's a year younger than us, and she's from England."  
  
"So her and Giles will get on OK." quipped Xander. "Drinking tea and proclaiming their love for the Queen and soccer."  
  
"Propagating national stereotypes Xander?" said Angel. "Not all English people are like that."  
  
"No. What about the Irish? Are they all drunks?" Xander shot back. Angel felt himself grow angry, part of him remembering the drunken Irishman he'd once been.  
  
"Stop it." said Buffy in a calm but dangerous tone. Both shut up immediately, regardless of their next insult.  
  
"Thank you. God, you two are like two little old ladies bickering."  
  
"Well, Angel has the old bit down." said Xander, unable to resist. Angel growled, low and dangerously. The smile wiped off Xander's face. Cordelia laughed.  
  
"If you two could dump some hormones?" she said, too busy laughing to really care. The scared look on Xander's face was priceless.  
  
"Dance Angel?" asked Buffy, wanting to split the two up before blood was spilt. Or drained.  
  
"Sure." They got up. The song was fairly slow, and Angel wrapped his arms around her. He was, in truth, scared for Buffy. He didn't want her to get hurt. He didn't want the baby to be hurt either. He wanted to protect her.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
"So, she was like the Super Slayer?" asked Mari. Angel nodded. He had told her of the time that Buffy had stormed City Hall, managing to destroy the Mayor before he was able to complete his invincibility ritual. As a result, his Ascension never took place, because he was, you know, dead already. He told her of the time Buffy had used a rocket launcher to dismember the Judge.  
  
He even told his granddaughter how it had been Angel himself who took the Judge to the Mall, just after he had changed. It had warmed Angel's heart to know that his granddaughter loved him, even knowing what he had done in the past. Like Buffy, she could differentiate between Angelus the Demon and Angel the Man. Mari was a lot like Buffy, and it made Angel so proud and happy to see Mari, as if she were the new incarnation of Buffy.  
  
*** 


	2. A Girl Called Paloma

The Incredible Story of Mari Mallone- Part Two  
  
***  
  
Sunnydale, 1999.  
  
"Stop it! I can manage fine on my own." snapped Buffy. She had just returned from grocery shopping for herself and Angel, and he was fussing around her, trying to take the bags from her.  
  
"I know, but I want to help you." he said, taking two of the bags. The smell of blood overtook him, but he fought back the demon.  
  
"That one's for you." she said, pointing to the bag in his left hand. Sure enough, inside were several bags of blood.  
  
"Thanks. You didn't have to. I could have gone." he told her. She sat down by the fire.  
  
"Well, I was in town anyway." she put her feet up on the table.  
  
"Are you tired?" he asked her.  
  
"A little." There were just two weeks before graduation, and Buffy was now four months pregnant.  
  
Her clothes were beginning to get tight, but all anyone at school had noticed was that she no longer wore spandex or tight tops.  
  
The new slayer, India Hamilton, had arrived from England a few weeks previously. She was seventeen and from London, as Giles had told them. What he hadn't told them was that India was dark and beautiful, with big blue eyes that jumped out from her pale skin.  
  
Cordelia had been concerned initially with Xander- knowing his predisposition towards slayers, but India was like Buffy in many ways, and saw Xander as just a friend. In fact, Buffy was more concerned than Cordelia, because it seemed that India shared tastes in men with Buffy. Namely: Angel.  
  
"How's India?" Angel asked. Buffy stiffened in her seat.  
  
"Fine." she said, her teeth grinding slightly.  
  
"Don't you like her."  
  
"Oh sure, I like her. She's like a little sister to me."  
  
"I sense a sarcastic tone." Angel told her. Buffy sighed.  
  
"I do like her, she's nice and she's dedicated to slaying. But she creeps me out. Haven't you ever seen Single White Female?" Angel looked blank.  
  
"I should have known." she sighed again. "It's like she's taking over my life- she lives in my old house with my mother, she's doing my job, she's friends with my friends, and she wants my boyfriend...." Buffy trailed off. Angel looked on in understanding now.  
  
"Buffy's jealous." he said, trying valiantly not to smile.  
  
"You're a fine one to talk!" she exclaimed. "And I'm not jealous per se, just..."  
  
"Concerned." His battle against smiling was rapidly being lost.  
  
"Yeah. Concerned."  
  
"Buffy, even if she does like me, it doesn't mean I like her back, does it? Or that I'm going to dump you for her." Angel looked at her seriously.  
  
"If you did, that would be really sucky, what with my condition and all." she said, smiling slightly.  
  
"Well, exactly." he smiled again "Do you want something to eat?"  
  
"No. I had a snack at the Mall." she suddenly remembered something. "Willow invited us to her house this evening for a nice quiet night in with videos."  
  
"OK." Angel said, more interested in rubbing her feet at that point.  
  
"So we'll go?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
***  
  
That night, all was quiet for a change, as Buffy, Angel, Willow, Oz, Xander, Cordelia and India settled down to watch movies, and eat popcorn.  
  
"What shall we watch first?" asked Willow, holding up two video boxes- Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Who Framed Roger Rabbit.  
  
"Ferris Bueller." said Buffy. The others nodded in agreement and they settled down to watch the movie.  
  
"Erm, Will, can I ask you a question?" began Xander.  
  
"Sure."  
  
"Who Framed Roger Rabbit? What were you thinking?" Willow scowled at him.  
  
"I think it's funny." she defended. "And Roger's cute."  
  
***  
  
By the end of the night, they were definitely bored. Willow was braiding Oz's green hair, Cordelia was lecturing Xander on the importance of regular use of hand cream, while Buffy and India painted Angel's finger nails.  
  
"Would anyone come and rescue me?" he called feebly to Xander, to Oz, to anyone.  
  
"Shut up." Buffy told him as she added a second coat of black to his left thumbnail.  
  
"It's black, Buffy."  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"I'm a walking cliché."  
  
"Is he always this unadventurous?" India asked the older girl.  
  
"Not always." Buffy smiled at him slyly. Angel glared at her.  
  
"Make it stop, Buffy." he pleaded.  
  
"Never." she grinned at him, placing a tiny kiss on his hand.  
  
"Why am I letting you do this?" he asked.  
  
"Because you love me, and because we'd kick your ass." Buffy told him chirpily.  
  
"Yeah?" he challenged.  
  
"Yeah. Two slayers against one itty bitty vampire? When one of the slayers is me?" she said.  
  
Angel thought for a moment, and a low, feral growl came from deep within him, but he just gave up, and sat quietly while he got his manicure.  
  
***  
  
When Angel and Buffy arrived home at the mansion, another car was parked there. Buffy extracted a stake from her jacket, and the two of them approached their own front door cautiously.  
  
"Buffy!" a voice called. Buffy's heart leapt into her throat for a second, before calming down. It was Joyce.  
  
"Mom? What are you doing here?" she said, clutching at her heart. "You almost gave me a heart attack. You shouldn't be out here when it's dark."  
  
"But this is the home of the slayer and her vampire boyfriend. Who would dare come here?" said Joyce. She had a good point. Everyone in Sunnydale of the demonic persuasion knew that the big mansion on Crawford Street was no go.  
  
"Just come inside." Buffy said, taking her mother into the house.  
  
"It's huge." commented Joyce.  
  
"Yeah. Angel likes his space, what with not getting out in the day so much." Buffy told her. Joyce paused for a moment, considered this before dismissing it.  
  
"Would you like a drink Mrs Summers?" Angel asked her politely.  
  
"Well, a coffee would be nice." she said. Angel nodded and disappeared into the kitchen. When he returned with two mugs of coffee, Buffy and Joyce were sitting by the fire talking. He placed the coffee down, and went to leave them to it.  
  
"No, Angel. Don't leave. This concerns you too." Joyce said. He obeyed, sitting down next to Buffy.  
  
"Now, I know I haven't been very supportive, but it's been an awful lot to take in. My daughter's a slayer of something I was led to believe didn't exist, she says she's in love with someone who had a bicentennial...."  
  
Buffy cleared her throat. She didn't like the insinuation that she wasn't completely in love with Angel. Joyce continued  
  
"She's having a baby, living in a mansion with her boyfriend, and she's already died once. Yet she's still just shy of her nineteenth birthday."  
  
"I know it's a lot to deal with, mom. That's why I tried to keep the truth about slaying from you, for your own sake. I don't want to see you hurt, I don't want to put you in any danger." Buffy told her.  
  
"This I do know: You're not a little girl anymore, you can make your own decisions, and soon you're going to have to look after a little baby. And I don't want to make your life harder. I'll always support you Buffy. Always. I just needed a little time for the information to filter through. And that goes for you too Angel. You have my support." Buffy beamed in delight. Angel nodded to Joyce in silent acknowledgement.  
  
"Well, I should go now, I have to be at the gallery early." she got up from her seat.  
  
"Good night then," she smiled before making her own way out. Angel followed her, and saw her get safely to her car and drive away.  
  
"Well, that went well." he said. Buffy nodded.  
  
"Tired?"  
  
"Yeah." she curled up on the sofa.  
  
"Buffy?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Can you help me get this stuff off my hands now?" he asked her, with his puppy-dog expression he knew she found irresistible. She rolled her eyes, and led him into the bathroom.  
  
***  
  
Two weeks later, Buffy and Willow were sitting in the library. It was just half an hour until the Graduation ceremony. Joyce would be there to see Buffy graduate. Principal Snyder had already congratulated her on graduating- knowing he wouldn't have to put up with her next year after all.  
  
"Will you miss this place?" she asked Willow.  
  
"School? Or just the library?"  
  
"Both."  
  
"Well, I'll miss the library, but we'll probably still spend time here with Giles."  
  
"That'll please Snyder." commented Buffy.  
  
"And school in general? I'm not so sure. A lot of these people teased me for a long time. I don't think I'll miss the people. But I'm scared of, you know, leaving it all behind, and going on to the unknown."  
  
"College?"  
  
"Exactly."  
  
"Well, look on the bright side, maybe I can get kicked out of UCSunnydale too." said Buffy. Willow smiled.  
  
"Oh! Will you sign my yearbook?" she asked Buffy, thrusting said book into her hands.  
  
"OK. Dear Willow.... Thanks for everything.... Love you to bits....See you at college...Congratulations you genius witch hacker you..... Love Buffy." she mumbled as she wrote.  
  
"Thanks. Is Angel coming to graduation?"  
  
"Not without getting a severe case of sunburn."  
  
"Oh, of course." Willow inwardly yelled at herself for being so stupid.  
  
"Doesn't matter. He'll be waiting in here. Hence the curtains." she motioned to the blackout material on the windows.  
  
"Ready?" Xander stuck his head round the door. Willow and Buffy exchanged glances, linked hands and walked out of the library.  
  
***  
  
"Congratulations Willow," Angel told her as he signed her yearbook.  
  
"Thanks." she said, still giddy from the ceremony. Giles had arranged for a small party for the Scooby gang in the library.  
  
"Did I tell you? I'll be moving most of the relevant books to my apartment, so you won't need to come here anymore. That would raise Snyder's suspicions too much." Giles told them.  
  
"So, it's the end of an era?" said Xander.  
  
"Yeah. It means Giles is going to have to get a computer." said Willow with a grin. Giles looked a little shocked, before realising it was time to join the twentieth century.  
  
With six whole months to spare.  
  
***  
  
Life was now more simple for Buffy. Like Angel, she mostly slept during the day, enabling her to be fresher and more alert for the little patrolling Giles still allowed her to do. Admittedly, she was often afraid of getting hurt, or more importantly, hurting her baby, but it wasn't like she had the opportunity to get hurt: she was always accompanied by Angel or India. She was beginning to feel a little hemmed in, never alone.  
  
She was always with Angel, which she didn't mind, or with someone else. They never let her alone for a moment. She was now six and a half months pregnant, and she knew she wouldn't be able to slay at all soon. She shuffled tiredly into the living room and sat by the fire. She and Angel really needed to get central heating.  
  
"Morning." Angel said from the kitchen. He came in with a bowl of cereal and a spoon, and handed them to her.  
  
"Hi." she said. "I thought I might go to the mall today."  
  
"OK. Who are you going with?"  
  
"No one."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"I can go on my own! I'm not entirely helpless! I can be left alone without anything bad happening you know." she exclaimed. Angel looked at her strangely.  
  
"I didn't say you couldn't." he said softly.  
  
"I'm sorry Angel, I didn't mean to be, well, mean. But I never seem to have any time on my own now." she began to cry softly.  
  
"Hormones troubling you at all?" he asked.  
  
"I haven't really had a problem with them to be honest." she said.  
  
He looked at her, expecting her to be joking. She wasn't. He looked at her. How did she not realise that one minute she was screaming at him, the next sobbing? He smiled, and hugged her.  
  
"Do you want to take my car?" he asked.  
  
"That's so sweet of you!" she said, dissolving into tears once more.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
"Hey Mari!" called Heather. It was time for history, but she really wasn't in the mood for anything academic. She beamed as her friend came down the corridor to her.  
  
"Hey Heather."  
  
"How'd the slaying go last night?"  
  
"I didn't go. I won't be slaying until I've trained some. Angel said he'll train with me too. He doesn't fancy that Giles guy's chances against me."  
  
"My grandmother told me that his father was your grandmother's watcher."  
  
"Yeah. Angel said. He really doesn't want me to do the whole slaying thing. He wants me to have a normal life. What is normal, anyway?"  
  
"You getting philosophical Mallone?" asked Heather with a grin.  
  
"Philosophical is such a strong word. I like to think of it more as pondering." said Mari.  
  
"You look like two young ladies with too much time on your hands." a voice bellowed. It was their adored Principal Carter.  
  
"Principal Carter. What a lovely morning. And that is a very fetching blouse." said Mari. Principal Carter scowled at Mari.  
  
"Don't you have a class to be in?" she asked.  
  
"Yes Ma'am. I was just collecting the relevant books from my locker." Mari said, smiling prettily at the Principal. It worked. The principal just looked at her, and then went down the hall.  
  
"How do you do that?" asked Heather.  
  
"What?"  
  
"That smile. Everyone falls for it. Even her." Heather nodded in the direction of Principal Carter.  
  
"I don't know, it's like a gift." Mari told her, and they went off to history.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
Sunnydale, California. Early 2000.  
  
Buffy was screaming in pain. It was a hard labour, and she'd already been there two hours. Nothing was going anywhere fast.  
  
"Angel!" she screamed. It was, however, still day light outside, and he'd been forced to stay at home until sunset. Even in her current state, she could imagine him at home, prowling, growling at the clock, trying to make time move faster.  
  
"It's almost sunset Buffy. He'll be here in time." said Willow. She was currently holding her best friend's hand as the contractions coursed through her body. Xander had also been present, but had passed out at the mere sight of some of the medical instruments used.  
  
"How's Xander?" Buffy asked in between contractions.  
  
"He's outside, sipping mineral water." Willow stifled a giggle.  
  
"Mom? Giles?"  
  
"She's at the gallery, and will be along in ten minutes, when it closes. Giles said he was on his way but he was taking the Gilesmobile, so who knows when he'll get here."  
  
"True."  
  
"India's going to patrol tonight. Cordelia's just gone off to her obstetrician's exam, she'll be back soon. She found the Xander passing out incident awfully funny." Willow told her.  
  
"It was funny." Buffy said, smiling, until another contraction hit her.  
  
***  
  
Half an hour later, her condition was still the same, but Angel was now there, holding her hand. The contractions were finally beginning to be more frequent.  
  
"It hurts, Angel." she said almost whimpering, gripping his hand tightly. He smiled.  
  
She'd been hurt worse than this before. But she really seemed to be in pain. And that alarmed Angel.  
  
"Is everything OK?" he asked the doctor in charge. The doctor smiled.  
  
"Sure it is. Just relax. We'll get through this. The contractions are getting harder and more frequent, so it's getting closer to the next stage. She'll be fine." he added for emphasis.  
  
"When I'm out of this bed, I'm going to kill you Angel." Buffy said through gritted teeth. He looked shocked. The midwife smiled.  
  
"They all say that. Don't worry, she'll forget her homicidal notions once baby is here."  
  
"No I will not." said Buffy, gripping his hand tighter.  
  
"Buffy! Ow!" Angel winced in pain.  
  
"See how you like it." she said, managing a small smile before the next contraction.  
  
***  
  
"Do you think she's OK?" Joyce asked for the millionth time. She, Giles, Xander, Cordelia, Oz and Willow were waiting outside.  
  
"I'm sure she's fine. Just relax." said Giles. Joyce didn't hear him.  
  
"Are you OK Xander?" Willow asked the boy, who was still nursing a bump on his head.  
  
"I'm fine." he said, trying to ignore Cordelia's pathetic attempts to stifle her laughter.  
  
"You could be more supportive." he told her. She laughed.  
  
"Xander, you passed out because of some tweezers and stuff."  
  
"It wasn't tweezers and stuff. They were like instruments of Satan. And look: this bump is almost as big as yours!" he said, pointing to his girlfriend's rather pregnant state. Cordelia gave up trying to hide her amusement, and laughed long and hard.  
  
A piercing scream cut through the air. It was unmistakably Buffy.  
  
"What?" Joyce was up on her feet. Then, a few seconds later, the sounds of a baby wailing came to their ears. A nurse appeared a few minutes after that, and led them into the room where Buffy lay, cradling a little baby girl in her arms.  
  
"Buffy!" cried Joyce. The others rushed in, with the exception of Xander, who first checked to see if the doctor had left any of his 'Instruments of Satan' in the room. Satisfied, Xander joined his friends.  
  
"How are you Xand?" Buffy tried not to laugh.  
  
"Fine thank you," he said a little tersely. Then his annoyed expression melted entirely. In Buffy's arms was the most beautiful baby he'd ever seen.  
  
"Buffy...." he began, but stopped, unable to find the words to continue.  
  
"Do you have a name for her yet?" asked Oz. Buffy looked at Angel.  
  
"Maybe Roslyn. Or Paloma. Or Lilyella." she said. "We haven't decided yet.  
  
"I love her stuff." said Cordelia. They all looked at her strangely. She clarified:  
  
"Paloma Picasso? Please!" she gave up hope.  
  
"We know who she is Cordelia." Buffy reassured her. "We just didn't think of you as a Paloma Picasso kind of girl."  
  
"I like Paloma. And Lilyella." said Joyce. "Lilyella Summers. Paloma Summers."  
  
"Lilyella Summers is a bit of a mouthful." said Giles.  
  
"Paloma it is." decided Buffy. Angel nodded. "Paloma." Buffy whispered to the baby.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
"Mari?" Angel called. She'd just got home from school. She'd hoped he hadn't heard her come in, so she could have a minute's rest before he dragged her down into the basement for training. She decided not to answer him.  
  
"Mari." he scolded lightly, appearing in the doorway. He couldn't venture out too far into the bright and sunny living room, and she had no intention of moving.  
  
"Leave me alone! I'm tired." she said, taking on an expression of exhaustion. It wasn't working.  
  
"Come on Mari. You've got a lot to learn. You've started late."  
  
"Late? You've been training me to be the slayer since I was born! Don't lie, you know you have." she accused.  
  
"No I haven't. I've been teaching you how to look after yourself. This is different. It's not just about being able to get out of any danger that arises, it's about actually going into dangerous situations willingly." he told her.  
  
"What are you, my watcher?" she said.  
  
"I'm your grandfather and you'll do as I say." he tried putting on a stern voice, but he could never really raise his voice to his Mari. She knew it too.  
  
"Please, let me just have half an hour?" she gave him a wide eyed little girl look, which she knew was guaranteed to work. And with a sigh, Angel headed back down into the darkness.  
  
***  
  
"I'm ready now." she called down, before heading down into the basement. He was there, waiting for her. She noticed the empty packets of blood in the bin. He'd just fed. That would make it harder for her.  
  
"Oh, you think so?" he taunted her. He ran at her, but she blocked him.  
  
They fought frenetically for minutes, neither gaining the upper hand. Mari was getting tired, but she willed herself to carry on. She was the Slayer, and she wasn't about to let some old guy beat her. Especially not this one. She'd never hear the end of it. Summoning all her strength, she threw him off, and he landed heavily on the floor. Without giving him time to recover, she dived at him, and pretended to stake him.  
  
"I win." she said with a huge smile.  
  
"Barely." he said. "And I wasn't trying my hardest." she gave him a look. He threw his hands up in the air in a gesture of frustration.  
  
"You're just like Buffy." he told her. She smiled at that. It was just about the biggest compliment Angel could give her.  
  
"Am I as good as her?" she asked, suddenly anxious. Angel smiled.  
  
"Come back when you've been slaying a couple of years, we'll fight and then I'll give you an answer." at that, Mari vowed to practice, survive and one day be an even better slayer than Buffy had been.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
Sunnydale, California. 2016.  
  
Many long and mostly happy years had passed, and Paloma Summers was now sixteen years old. She was, like her mother, a pretty blonde girl. She shared with her father deep, dark eyes which no one could ever quite fathom. She was Homecoming Queen, Prom Princess, the co-captain of the cheerleading squad, and she was probably the most popular girl in school.  
  
A few comments were occasionally made about how her father seemed so young- Angel, after all, still passed easily for twenty five years old- but Paloma's life was pretty much perfect. She knew all about the things that go bump in the night, and she was secretly relieved to be just another girl. Paloma had never wanted to be a slayer- she'd wanted to be a real girl.  
  
The triumvirate that was Buffy, Angel and Paloma had often worried that one day she would be called, but as she reached sixteen, it was clear that she was not what Slayers were made of. She was a cheerleader and proud of it.  
  
Buffy continued slaying, becoming like a mentor to each new slayer that passed through the tourist spot known as The Hellmouth, just as Giles continued to watch, having been reinstated to the Watcher's Council years before. And Angel? He still suffered from his sunlight and crucifix allergies, and helped his adored Buffy after sundown.  
  
"Hey! Paloma!" a deep male voice called to her. She was sauntering along the edge of the school football field, still in her cheerleading uniform, on her way home.  
  
It was late autumn, and she knew Angel would begin to worry if she wasn't home before the sun began to set. But, against her better judgement, she stopped and turned around.  
  
"Hi?" she said, momentarily stunned.  
  
She might be the most popular girl in school but she was still surprised that the star quarterback for the Sunnydale Razorbacks was running towards her. Jason Mallone.  
  
He was everything that Paloma had ever wanted. He was gorgeous in a blond, perma-white smile, All-American kind of way, he was kind and sweet and an athlete. Pulling herself together, she gave him her most dazzling smile.  
  
"Jason!" she said, wishing her mind would function properly long enough for her to get out a sentence.  
  
"Are you going home?" he asked. "I'll walk with you, you know, if you want." She smiled again.  
  
"Sure."  
  
"You live in that great house on Crawford Street, don't you?" he asked conversationally.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I heard that it used to belong to this huge movie star back in the 1950s." he told her.  
  
"It did."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"I don't know. Just some huge reclusive star who locked herself away in her big house at the first sign of a wrinkle." they laughed.  
  
She definitely liked Jason. Or, as Aunt Cordy would say, he was definitely what could be classed as 'salty goodness'.  
  
"My dad bought the house before I was born. Him and my mom did the whole place up, to make it less Haunted House on the Hill." They strolled along the wide streets of Sunnydale, basking in the warmth of the dying sun.  
  
After five minutes walking, talking, they arrived at her home. It was definitely pretty dark. Angel would be mad. She opened the door, and silently nodded to Jason to go in. Angel and Buffy had instilled in their daughter the importance of knowing who to invite in, and who not to invite in. If someone actually needed to ask to be invited in, then it was fairly safe to say that they shouldn't be invited in. To her relief, Jason walked straight in and she followed.  
  
"Daddy?" she called. It was dark enough for him to be outside now, and so she led Jason into the kitchen.  
  
"Would you like a drink?"  
  
"A Coke would be great." he told her. She opened the fridge, and quickly closed it again.  
  
Inside hung several large packets of blood. She didn't want to even begin explaining that one to Jason. She opened it again just enough to slide her arm in and pull out a can of Coke. She took him into the living room, where Angel had lit a fire.  
  
"You have a real fire!" he exclaimed. Such things weren't exactly the norm now.  
  
"Yeah. We've got real heating too, but Daddy likes the fire." As if on cue, Angel himself entered from the garden.  
  
"When did you get in?" he asked.  
  
"Since about ten minutes ago." she lied, hoping he wouldn't have been aware if she had been back before sunset or not.  
  
"You, Paloma Lilyella Summers, are a liar." Angel said, without the slightest hint of annoyance, just concern for his beloved little girl.  
  
"I am not lyi- OK, I admit, we got in about two minutes ago. Practice ran late." she paused, noticing Angel's suspicious look towards Jason.  
  
"This is Jason Mallone, he's the quarterback for the Razorbacks. He walked me home."  
  
"Hi."  
  
"Jason, this is my dad, Angel."  
  
"Mr Summers," said Jason a little over-eager in his attempt to shake Angel's hand. Angel smiled a little, before disappearing back into the garden.  
  
"Don't worry about him, he's just like that around anyone he thinks might corrupt his little girl."  
  
"He looks too young to be your dad." Jason commented.  
  
"He has great bone structure." Paloma said, a little cryptically.  
  
"Where's your mom?"  
  
"She's out pa... at her friend's house." Paloma checked herself.  
  
Jason would want to know what 'patrolling' involved. They sat talking, about anything, everything and nothing, when about half an hour later, the sound of screeching tires was heard, before Xander Harris came rushing in. He went straight past Paloma and Jason, into the garden. A few seconds later, he and Angel ran back through the house, and the car roared off again.  
  
"What was that about?" Jason wondered aloud. He noticed Paloma's worried expression.  
  
"I.... I don't know. Could you wait a sec?" she asked, before going to the phone. She was getting worried.  
  
There was no answer from Willow, or Giles. And Angel was injured, hence his not patrolling. Something big was going on. She never admitted as much, but her mother's slaying petrified Paloma. She went back to Jason.  
  
"I should probably get you home." she told him. She picked up the keys to Angel's precious 1968 convertible.  
  
"Is everything OK?"  
  
"I'm not sure. I'll drive you home. You live on Peachtree Road, right?" Jason nodded.  
  
There was something in Paloma's eyes which worried him. He didn't notice her pick up a bag containing stakes and holy water. She led him quickly to the car, and he got in.  
  
But before she could get in the driver's side, a vampire sprung from the shadows. Using the techniques she'd learned from her parents, she kicked it away, giving her enough time to grab a bottle of holy water, and throw it in the vampire's approaching face. It screamed with pain, and was preoccupied long enough for her to drive a stake through it's heart and it turned to dust.  
  
"They never learn." she muttered. She got into the driver's seat, and then noticed Jason's expression. She sighed. She had no idea how to explain that away.  
  
***  
  
"Mom?" Paloma called, when she heard the front door open later that night. She rushed into the living room, expecting to see Buffy a little bruised, but not much more.  
  
Instead, she watched as Angel carried her into the room. Oblivious for the first time to his daughter since her birth, he swept past her into their bedroom, followed closely by Giles, Willow, Xander and Cordelia. Paloma went to follow, but Cordelia stopped her.  
  
"You don't want to go in there. Trust me." Cordelia smiled comfortingly at Paloma, trying to reassure her.  
  
***  
  
"She's going to be OK, right?" Paloma asked for the fifth time in as many minutes. They were all sitting in Buffy and Angel's bedroom, waiting for Buffy to wake. It hadn't been as bad as Paloma had first feared- cuts, bruises, a knock on the head.  
  
"What was it?" she ventured. Giles spoke softly,  
  
"A large posse of the Eliminati ambushed her."  
  
"El Eliminati? But mom killed that Balshazzar guy."  
  
"Balthazar. Yes she did, but El Eliminati still exist." Giles told her.  
  
"Why Buffy? She's not the slayer anymore. Roisin is." Xander said, less of a question and more a vocalisation of his wandering thoughts.  
  
"Everyone knows that Buffy's stronger and more dangerous than Roisin. She's the one to kill around here, official slayer or not." Angel spoke for the first time since arriving back home.  
  
His voice carried bitterness, sarcasm and concern. Even as he spoke, his eyes never left Buffy's face, his grip on her hand never lessened. All eyes were on Buffy, willing her to wake up. And, eventually, she did.  
  
"Angel?" she said. Xander handed Willow a crisp twenty dollar note.  
  
"What was that for?" she asked.  
  
"I bet Xander that the first thing you'd say on waking up would have something to do with Angel." Willow grinned triumphantly. Buffy smiled, albeit weakly.  
  
"Are you OK?" Angel asked softly. Buffy smiled.  
  
"Yeah. Paloma, don't look so worried." she said with a laugh.  
  
"I was scared. And on top of all this I dusted a vampire earlier."  
  
Everyone looked at her.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yeah. After Xander came to get you, I thought I'd better drive Jason home, in case of bad stuff. And as I was getting in the car, a vampire jumped out of nowhere, but it was slow and dumb and I killed it."  
  
"It was here?" Angel was astonished. Every single creature of the night knew it was suicide to go anywhere near the house of the Slayer.  
  
"He was a newly made vamp, I don't think he was here for a purpose."  
  
"How do you know he was newly made?" asked Giles.  
  
"He was still covered in graveyard earth. And he was dumb." Paloma told him.  
  
"Very observant of you." he told her. She beamed proudly.  
  
Angel looked up at his daughter for the first time since he'd returned with Buffy. He couldn't describe how happy he was that his daughter was not destined to be a slayer.  
  
It was strange enough for her to have a slayer mom and a vampire dad, but these things were trivial compared to the day to day reality of being the slayer. He thanked whoever it was that decides such things for sparing Paloma this destiny.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
"Chill!" Mari exclaimed, now entirely annoyed.  
  
Six weeks ago she'd been a fairly normal girl, with more time on her hands than she knew what to do with. Now she had every single second of her life taken up. It was either school or slaying. Neither Donald Giles or Angel thought she was ready, and so every day on her return from school she would spar with Angel, then she would train with Giles, then she would patrol with Angel.  
  
Except Angel was so protective that she barely ever got a chance to fight. Which she wasn't exactly bothered about, it was the fact that she had to go along anyway. Who needs a slayer when you've got one vampire who hates and despises all other vampires and wants to kill them all?  
  
And now, she was in her basement at home, wishing that she had promised herself so fervently that she, Mari Mallone, would be the greatest slayer since her very own grandmother.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
"Please daddy!" Paloma whined like a little girl.  
  
"No." Angel didn't move from his position by the fire, reading The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.  
  
"Please!"  
  
"No."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Because I've seen you drive." his eyes didn't move from the page.  
  
"But surely it's safer than me walking in the dark. This is the Hellmouth."  
  
"Your mom's out patrolling. You'll be fine. Not one single evil thing in this town is stupid enough to attack you."  
  
"What if they don't know who I am?"  
  
"They do."  
  
"OK, now I'm freaked out. How come everyone in this town knows who I am?" Angel looked up.  
  
"You're the slayer's daughter. Every single bad guy in Sunnydale knows that messing with you is messing with the Slayer. And me. Have a nice walk to the Bronze. Don't be too late home." Angel turned his eyes back to the book.  
  
Paloma sighed, but knowing her father would never let her drive his car except in the most dire of emergencies. She picked up her bag, and went out through the garden.  
  
***  
  
Paloma had hardly stepped out the back door when Angel put down his book. He picked up his leather jacket, and followed her. He might not let her drive his car, on the reasoning that she'd crash it, but he wasn't going to leave his precious daughter to the mercy of all the evil the Hellmouth threw at them. He followed her down the hill, towards the Bronze.  
  
The Bronze had long ago been split in two- the same as always for the high school kids, and another, more exclusive, sophisticated bar for adults. Walking to the Bronze had two purposes: safeguarding Paloma and meeting up with Buffy.  
  
"Daddy?" He'd been so lost in thought that he hadn't noticed Paloma stop. A little sheepishly, he emerged from the shadows.  
  
"I guess I need to brush up on my Stalker Boy routine?" he joked.  
  
"I knew it! I knew you wouldn't just let little Paloma walk through the dangerous town all alone." Angel smiled.  
  
"I'm not following you.... exactly. I'm meeting mom in the Gold bar."  
  
"OK. You're forgiven." Paloma smiled brightly to her father. They walked along in a comfortable silence, until they arrived at the Bronze, when they split up- Angel going towards the 'Gold Bar' and Paloma towards the Bronze itself.  
  
***  
  
"Hey Paloma!" a high female voice called out in the hall at school the next day. It was Niagara Harris, the girl her parents wished that she was better friends with, her being 'Uncle' Xander and 'Aunt' Cordelia's daughter. She'd been born just a couple of months after Paloma herself.  
  
Personally, Paloma found Niagara to be at least a little irritating. She'd been well protected by her parents, and as such thought about such lofty, important things as hair conditioner and nail polish remover and the latest copy of Vogue. Paloma laughed. It was a neat description of Cordelia twenty years ago. So if there was hope for Cordy, maybe there was hope for Niagara.  
  
"Hi." Paloma turned to her. Niagara looked very much like her mother, with dark hair, a beautiful face, yet she also carried with her a wicked sense of humour from her father. It was one of her saving graces in terms of not being totally annoying.  
  
"How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
"Good. Do you want a Coke?"  
  
"No, I'm fine."  
  
"Did your dad lend you his car?"  
  
"What do you think?" Niagara pretended to ponder this.  
  
"Dead boy lends car to daughter. Not in a million."  
  
"Dead boy? You've been listening to your dad again." Paloma laughed. "But keep it down a bit. We don't want the whole world to know."  
  
"Know what?" asked Niagara innocently, yet grinning widely.  
  
"Well, exactly. Have you seen Jason around per chance?" Paloma searched the room with her eyes.  
  
"Per chance? If I've been hanging round my dad too much, you've been spending too much time in the library with the G Man." Paloma laughed.  
  
"Probably. Principal Carter is still confused as to why my mom comes into the library so much. She probably thinks they're having an affair." Paloma wrinkled her nose at the thought.  
  
"When she has someone looking like your dad at home?" Niagara teased lightly.  
  
"OK. Thanks. Now I have horrible thoughts." Paloma wrinkled her nose.  
  
"Hello ladies." a male voice hailed them. Jason Mallone was standing there.  
  
"Hi." Paloma turned to face him, and planted a kiss on his cheek. They had been dating for a couple of months now, almost since the night her mother had been hurt by El Eliminati.  
  
"Do you want to go to the Bronze tonight?" he asked her. She smiled up at him, and was about to say yes, when Niagara interrupted.  
  
"She can't. It's her dad's birthday. That's what I came to talk to you about." she explained.  
  
Paloma winced. Her father hated being reminded of exactly how old he was (and he was old) and she was dreading his reaction to the surprise party that they'd organised.  
  
It had been Cordelia's idea, and Paloma suspected that even her mother was having doubts. After all, it had taken months of cajoling as a child to get Angel to reveal his birth date to his daughter.  
  
Jason paused, but realising no invitation would be forthcoming, he nodded.  
  
"OK, well, I'll see you tomorrow then." he brushed Paloma's cheek with a kiss, before going down the hall. Niagara frowned at her.  
  
"Why didn't you invite him?" she demanded. Paloma glared at Niagara.  
  
"Well, maybe because he still thinks vampires and demons are fictional, and the idea of explaining to him why my dad's birthday cake has two hundred and fifty or so candles on it is just too much."  
  
"He doesn't know? Even I know about demons and my mom spent years trying to protect me." Niagara suddenly seemed much more mature, less vacuous.  
  
"How much do you know?"  
  
"Well, pretty much everything," she pulled at the neckline of her shirt to pull out her crucifix, and opened her bag, to reveal a stake at the bottom.  
  
"Daddy told me everything last year. It was a shock to say the least. I was mad that you already knew as well." she grinned. "But you have to get on with your life, right? And a big part of my life is hair care and fashion, as daddy says. I know you think I'm kind of an airhead, but I'm not. You should know that looks can be deceiving."  
  
Niagara was right.  
  
"I don't think you're an air head." she told Niagara, who gave her a look. "I don't! I just, I don't know, I guess I put you in the same category as all your clique."  
  
"You're not exactly Miss Unpopularity either!"  
  
"I know. Look, let's just forget it all, OK? Start from the beginning?" The two girls shook on it.  
  
"So, what have you got Angel for his birthday? I mean, what do you get a man who's been alive for over two hundred years?" Niagara pondered.  
  
"He's two hundred and sixty two." Paloma clarified.  
  
"Is Helene coming?" Niagara asked. Helene Osbourne was a couple of years younger than them, but had entry into the Scooby Gang as the daughter of Willow and Oz.  
  
"I don't know. Probably." Paloma paused. "Did you do the History?"  
  
"No. Aunt Willow came round last night and did it for me. She asked me to give you this." she pulled out a neatly typed History assignment with the name Paloma Summers at the top.  
  
"Isn't she just great?" said Paloma, with a smile as the two made their way towards the History class.  
  
*** 


	3. Past and Future

The Incredible Story of Mari Mallone  
  
***  
  
Sunnydale, 2038  
  
Mari sat alone, fuming. Buffy didn't have to put up with this kind of thing, surely? She didn't know the battles that Buffy had fought against Giles in her quest for a normal life, she didn't know the number of times Angel and Buffy had been forced to change their plans due to unscheduled slaying or apocalypse averting.  
  
She realised how little she knew about, well, anything. She didn't know what it was like to be a slayer yet. By the time Buffy was Mari's age, she had seen so much, yet Mari was still in her safe cocoon provided by Angel. She felt constricted.  
  
"What do you want for dinner?" Angel put his head around her bedroom door.  
  
"Nothing." Mari said glumly, her eyes not leaving the TV screen she wasn't really watching.  
  
"What's the matter?" Angel was immediately concerned and he came into the room.  
  
"Nothing, I'm just not hungry." She told him. He sat down on the edge of her bed.  
  
"What's the matter Mari? Just tell me."  
  
"Nothing's wrong."  
  
"Is it the whole slayer thing? Tell me."  
  
"No."  
  
"You liar. What's the problem?"  
  
"I told you. Nothing."  
  
"It's like trying to get blood out of a stone." he joked "Let me try and guess, OK? You feel hemmed in, constricted? You feel like you have no life, and surely Buffy didn't have to put up with all this?" Mari stared at him. How did he guess all that?  
  
"I knew Buffy for a very long time. You get to learn these things. It does get easier. You'll get used to it and saving the world becomes such a regular occurrence that you barely even notice. Oh, one last thing."  
  
"Yeah?" she said with the faintest hint of a smile.  
  
"Learn the plural of apocalypse." He smiled at her before leaving the room.  
  
XXXXXXXXX  
  
Sunnydale, California. 2020.  
  
"Congratulations!" Everybody shouted as Mr and Mrs Jason Mallone came down the stairs in their going-away outfits.  
  
Paloma positively glowed with happiness as they descended. She closed her eyes and threw the bouquet, straight into the waiting hands of Helene Osbourne. Then she went over to her father, waiting a little way from the large group of people. His deep brown eyes looked into her green eyes.  
  
"Hello Daddy." she said softly. Angel just looked at her, wondering if all fathers think their daughters are so beautiful. Silently, he pulled her into a hug.  
  
"I love you Paloma." he whispered into her ear. He may have given her away officially a few hours previously, but now he was truly accepting that his little girl was all grown up.  
  
"I love you too daddy." she told him, kissing him on the cheek. She then went to say goodbye to her mother, Cordelia, Willow, Xander and Oz before taking Jason's hand. The two of them set off into the night and into their future.  
  
"Angel," Buffy said, wrapping her arm around his waist.  
  
"Hmm?" he asked, distractedly.  
  
"You feel old, don't you?"  
  
"Never older. She's all grown up Buffy." he said. Buffy smiled at him.  
  
"I know. I never thought I'd see the day..."  
  
"Stop it." he commanded  
  
"Well, slayers don't usually live long enough to have children, never mind see they grow up and get married." She said in a matter-of-fact voice. Angel frowned at her.  
  
"Don't talk like that." But in his heart he couldn't argue with her. Since India, there had been seven other slayers. And, at the grand old age of 39, Buffy was by far the oldest ever slayer. Nobody had truly expected her to live beyond 25. But that was a sober thought for another time. So Angel just took her into his arms and hugged her tightly, kissing her softly.  
  
XXXXXXXXXX  
  
Mari was feeling better. She'd been slaying for five months now and it had already become boringly routine. Xander, Cordelia and Willow had been more than willing to resurrect the old Scooby Gang for her. Except it wasn't really the same.  
  
There was no Buffy, no Oz and it was Donald Giles, not Rupert. But they would research every demon which came Mari's way and she would then stop it. Already she had stopped the Hellmouth opening. In fact, they had sealed it up in perpetuity. But what concerned Mari most of all was how little she really knew about her family.  
  
Although she hadn't noticed as a child, she now realised that she didn't know about her grandmother's death or even the deaths of her parents. She didn't know what had happened that caused Angel to be raising Mari on his own. She didn't know much about her family except for what Angel had told her. She knew, for instance, that Buffy and Angel had been completely in love with each other, and so had Jason and Paloma. Becoming the slayer had thrown up so many questions for her, and Angel was renowned for his reticence.  
  
"Angel?" she ventured. He looked up from his book and smiled at his granddaughter.  
  
"Yes?" She sat down beside him.  
  
"I want to know the things you never told me." She said. He looked confused.  
  
"What things?"  
  
"Like how Buffy died. How my mom and dad died. Stuff like that." she managed to say, unsure of his reaction. But Angel wasn't angry, for he'd been anticipating this moment.  
  
"You want to know everything? Everything that ever happened?" he looked so sad.  
  
"Yes. You've told me everything about the time you went all... evil. But you never told me the other bad stuff. I need to know. Please." she pleaded. He sighed.  
  
"OK. Come with me." He took her hand and led her down into the basement. There, he took out a key and opened the door to the metal cupboard. He took out a box and motioned for her to sit down.  
  
"You want to know everything, and I can't blame you. But its not pleasant."  
  
XXXXXXXXX  
  
Sunnydale, California. June 2021  
  
Spike stepped into the early evening darkness. He growled as he looked down on Sunnydale. William the Bloody was back in Sunnydale for a reason. The Slayer had been a thorn in his side for too long and he didn't intend for things to stay that way for long. She was older now, much older and he was certain that he could easily overpower her with just a little forethought.  
  
Now he was rid of Drusilla and her distracting influence he was free to concentrate solely on the death of the Slayer. Once the chip had been removed from his head he had resolved to kill Buffy. Even if she took him down with her, it would be worth it.  
  
***  
  
Buffy sat with Paloma at the Espresso Pump. Paloma and Jason had been married for just over a year and their baby was expected in four months.  
  
"Is Daddy coming too?" Paloma asked her mother. The sun had just set and the two had been on a hard day's shop.  
  
"He said he was." Buffy told her daughter. It wasn't often that she got to spend time with Paloma.  
  
Either she was busy working or Paloma was busy completing her final year at college. She deeply missed being able to spend time with her daughter, and she knew Angel felt the same. Truth be told, Angel seemed to have lost a little part of him the day Paloma got married and went to live on Peachtree Road with her new husband.  
  
"Hello!" A deep voice called from the entrance. But instead of Angel standing there, it was Jason.  
  
Paloma's eyes lit up immediately and her tired expression was replaced with a wide smile. It was the exact same look Buffy always displayed when Angel walked into the room. She too smiled at the love between her daughter and her husband. She had spent her life trying to protect Paloma. Before Paloma was born Buffy had seen her calling as just a job of kinds. But after the birth of Paloma, the job of Slayer really did become a personal mission.  
  
She had a daughter to care for and she fully intended to do so. Now that daughter was grown up and having a child of her own. It made Buffy feel old, even at just 41. But then, Buffy had never thought she'd live to 41, so it was a good feeling.  
  
"Mom? Mom?" Paloma was looking at her strangely. Buffy blinked at her.  
  
"What? Did I zone out?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah." Paloma said with a smile. "Jason was just telling us how the UC Sunnydale football team won against the UCLA team tonight. Jason was the big star." she smiled proudly.  
  
"I was not saying that." he said, blushing. Buffy smiled. He was a modest young man, still not entirely comfortable with the idea of being good enough to play football at college level.  
  
"I bet's it's true though." Buffy said fondly. He blushed again.  
  
"How did it go today?" he asked his wife, hoping to get off the subject of his football prowess.  
  
"Very well." Paloma said mysteriously.  
  
"Did they tell you? Is it a boy or a girl?" Buffy grinned at the two of them. She too, was anxious to know. If it was a girl, there was a chance it could be a Slayer. That wasn't something Buffy wanted for her granddaughter. Paloma smiled widely.  
  
"The doctor said...." she said slowly. "That the baby is..." she paused, pretending to try to remember.  
  
"Paloma!" Jason exclaimed.  
  
"A girl." Paloma said solemnly. Jason's smile grew wider to match hers. To Buffy it was clear that a girl baby was exactly what they had wanted. She watched as the two spoke excitedly to each other. She felt a strange feeling of loneliness.  
  
"Feeling old Miss Summers?" a voice asked smoothly as two arms wrapped around her waist.  
  
"Well, a little." She admitted, kissing Angel on the cheek. He smiled at her.  
  
"Wait till you get to my age." He joked. She grinned at him, but then she felt a horrible, unexplainable feeling. Fear. Her face went white. Angel, Paloma and Jason all looked concerned.  
  
"Mom?"  
  
"Buffy?" Angel asked. But Buffy didn't say a word. Instead her eyes locked onto the blond man in the doorway. By the time Angel followed her gaze, the doorway was empty.  
  
"What was it Buffy?" he asked her. If his heart could actually beat it would have been pounding fast with fear. She managed one word.  
  
"Spike."  
  
***  
  
"Giles! Giles!" Angel hollered. They had arrived at the apartment Giles lived in with his wife Amanda and their twelve year old son Donald, only to find the door broken down and the apartment empty. Buffy followed him in.  
  
"He's not here. I know Amanda was taking Donny to visit her parents this weekend, so hopefully, they're safe. But Giles...." She trailed off. Xander barrelled in.  
  
"Where is he?" he demanded.  
  
"We don't know. But it has to have something to do with Spike." Buffy said resignedly.  
  
She had been given a shock earlier when she saw Spike. The last time they had fought, just a few years before, he had almost overwhelmed her. Now she truly was getting too old to fight. She shouldn't even be alive now, according to every single piece of Slayer lore and prophecy. She knew she wasn't strong enough to beat Spike anymore.  
  
"We need to find Alessandra." she said, referring to the current Slayer, an Italian girl.  
  
"Xander, you call her. Angel, we need to think where Spike might have taken Giles."  
  
"The factory." he said without hesitation. She looked at him  
  
"Would Spike really be that stupid?" she asked. They paused for just a moment before heading off towards the factory.  
  
XXXXXXXXX  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Spike captured him. He took Giles to the old factory, hid him in the basement, where he tortured him, where he taunted Giles with false images of his wife and child being killed. He managed to do what I hadn't: He drove Giles mad and broke him. Giles had loved a woman called Jenny Calendar when Buffy was in high school. And I killed her. I tortured Giles for hours to get the secrets of Acathla. Yet Spike was the one who, over a week of non-stop torture, drove Giles insane. Then, he drained Giles of all his blood and forced him to drink from Spike. Buffy had to kill her own Watcher and then she had to tell Amanda Giles. We never saw Amanda or Donald again. Well, until now." He said, thinking of Mari's watcher. Mari shuddered at the thought of having to stake her own watcher.  
  
XXXXXXXXX  
  
Buffy sat catatonic on the bed. She had killed Giles. The one person who had always, always stood by her, even when Angel had turned evil. He was dead. She'd had to tell his wife. That had been almost as hard as driving the stake through his heart.  
  
"Buffy?" Angel's voice penetrated her deep thoughts.  
  
"Yes?" she asked softly.  
  
"You did the right thing."  
  
"I know."  
  
"It wasn't Giles you killed, it was the demon who wore his face. Giles would have wanted you to do it. He would have disappointed if you hadn't." Angel told her. He had to get through to her.  
  
"We could have given him your curse." she said stubbornly.  
  
"No we couldn't. Giles wouldn't want to be a vampire. It would have devastated him." Buffy looked up into the familiar brown eyes and tried to smile a little. She knew he was right, even if she did feel lousy.  
  
"Do you feel any better now?" he asked.  
  
"No."  
  
"Didn't think you would. Alessandra is patrolling. You stay here." he told her firmly.  
  
"No."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Spike isn't going to see the end of tonight." She stood up. "I'm going to do what I should have done years ago." Her eyes were full of anger. "I'm not going to let him kill anyone else."  
  
Paloma came rushing in.  
  
"Xander's here. He says there's a gang of vampires attacking a girl scout cookout at the park." Angel got up, grabbed the bag of weapons he kept by the door.  
  
"Stay with her." He commanded his daughter. She nodded.  
  
"Buffy?" He asked. "Stay here."  
  
"Angel?" She said. He paused. "I love you." She told him with a smile. "I love you too." He reached over and kissed Buffy softly, before running out to Xander.  
  
XXXXXXXXX  
  
"That was the last time I saw her alive." Angel told Mari, his eyes filling with tears.  
  
But, being the kind of guy he was, he wouldn't shed them. Mari put her hand on her shoulder.  
  
"What did Spike do to her?" she willed herself to ask.  
  
XXXXXXXXX  
  
"Mom! You can't." Paloma was trying to sound authoritative, but it was hard. Buffy had sprung into action the second Angel left.  
  
"You don't even know where he is." Jason tried to reason with her.  
  
She ignored him and continued collecting stakes, crossbow bolts and such from around the mansion. Suddenly, a rock flew through the French windows.  
  
"I bet you fifty dollars there's a note attached." Buffy said dryly. Jason picked it up and sure enough, there was a note attached. He read it out aloud.  
  
"Come to the Bronze or Peaches dies."  
  
"He's got Daddy?" Paloma's voice rose an octave with fear.  
  
"That is IT!" Buffy screamed. "He can torture and sire my watcher, but nobody messes with my boyfriend! Does he never learn?" She screamed with anger and fear.  
  
"OK. But we're coming with you." Paloma told her. Jason nodded. They both knew that Buffy was getting weaker. Certainly not strong enough to beat Spike on her own.  
  
***  
  
The Bronze was deserted when they arrived, as Buffy knew it would be. She wished that the villains would come up with some more original venues. The Bronze had gotten tired a long time ago. Then, without warning, the heavy steel door clanged shut.  
  
"Hello, cutie." A slightly dodgy British accent cut through the darkness. Spike came into view.  
  
"Paloma, get out of here." Buffy murmured.  
  
She wasn't having her daughter hurt for all the tea in China. Paloma withdrew into the shadows, where Spike couldn't see her. He was so caught up in Buffy, Spike didn't even notice Paloma's presence.  
  
"See you brought the son in law." Spike said conversationally. Before Jason could react, Spike had grabbed him and with no warning whatsoever, snapped the young man's neck. Buffy's eyes widened with fear and anger and grief.  
  
"You'll be sorry you did that, peroxide boy." She told him, her voice wavering.  
  
"Will I really Buff?" He asked with a smirk. "Do you think so? I feel pretty good about it right now. Everything is, for once, working according to plan. Right now, the great poof you call Angel and the one that dresses in the dark... Xander, are being outnumbered by a gang of my personal favourites, and should be dead within about a half a minute. And that werewolf guy got acquainted with a silver bullet. But you, I want to kill you personally." He smiled at her, a sickening, terrifying smile.  
  
Buffy felt her insides go cold with fear. This time he really meant to kill her. He would stop at nothing. For the first time in her life, Buffy Summers completely helpless.  
  
***  
  
Angel and Xander fought hard: the vampires trying to feast on twenty girl scouts were determined in their quest. But then, suddenly, as Angel staked a second vampire, the rest ran off, as if controlled by another force.  
  
"What was all that about?" Xander asked him over the din of crying girls.  
  
"I don't know. But they looked like they might have something to do with Spike. I haven't seen them around before." Angel said, already on his way back to the mansion. Xander ran to catch up with him.  
  
***  
  
Spike was methodically pouring gasoline around the Bronze. He had already started a fire by the door and the smoke was making Buffy weak., as he intended it to. She lay on the floor, hacking with coughs. He doused the stage with petrol before jumping down and hauling Buffy to her feet.  
  
"I've been waiting for this moment a long time, Slayer." He told her. Then, he snapped her neck in one fluid movement. Then, leaning down, he drained her of every last drop of blood, taking in the strength of the slayer blood. After he drained her, he noticed Paloma lying near the flames. He picked her up and dragged her away into the ladies' bathroom, away from the flames which could kill him.  
  
***  
  
By the time Angel and Xander arrived at the Bronze, it was ablaze. The fire had taken to most of the building but the note he'd found left Angel in no doubt as to Buffy's whereabouts. Ignoring the fire-fighters, he barrelled straight inside. The smoke was thick and he squinted to see. He saw Buffy's body lying by the stage and he ran to her.  
  
His heart sank, then broke. He could see that she'd been drained and her neck had been snapped. There was no hope. As he scooped her into his arms and his body began shaking with sobs, he heard a scream. He leapt up, and made his way to the ladies' bathroom.  
  
There he found Paloma, badly beaten and weakened from the smoke. He hooked his arm around her and hauled her up and out.  
  
XXXXXXXXX  
  
He sat down beside her and opened the box. On top of the papers inside was a newspaper clipping with the headline "Buffy Summers Killed In Bronze Blaze" Angel handed the piece to Mari. She read it:  
  
"The Sunnydale community has been left reeling by the death of Buffy Summers. Ms. Summers, who has lived in the town since 1997, was a popular figure around Sunnydale. Her son-in-law Jason Mallone was also found dead while his wife Paloma, five months pregnant, is in the Intensive Care Unit at Sunnydale General Hospital. Ms Summers' husband was unavailable for comment today but friends say he is 'devastated' by the tragedy. The fire department is treating the blaze as suspicious."  
  
Mari checked the date. It read June 2021. Just four months before she was born. She looked up at Angel, who handed her another clipping.  
  
"The inquiry into the fire at the Bronze nightclub which resulted in the deaths of Buffy Summers and Jason Mallone has found that the blaze was started behind the bar. Traces of petroleum and other accelerants were found around the building and today the Coroner released the information that Ms Summers and Mr Mallone were not killed by the fire as first thought, but had their necks broken some time previously. It is thought to be the work of a gang who were seen leaving town at the same time. Attempts to trace the gang have so far proved unsuccessful."  
  
Mari again looked up at her grandfather, who seemed unable to speak. He tried anyway.  
  
"Spike kept returning to Sunnydale for one reason or another. Always Buffy would foil his plans. Then he came back one last time, determined to rid the world of the curse of Buffy. He managed to trap Buffy, Jason and Paloma in the Bronze, where he started the fire. He drained Buffy of her blood, but just killed Jason straight off. Paloma hid. He found her, and beat her, but he ran when the fire got too out of control."  
  
"Where were you?"  
  
"I was on the other side of town with Xander fighting off Spike's diversion."  
  
"What happened to mom?"  
  
"She managed to survive. I got her out of the fire before it reached her. But she had serious smoke inhalation, not to even mention the beating Spike gave her. We were all amazed he even left her alive. The doctors all expected her to miscarry you. But she managed to hold on until you were born." A look of unspeakable pain crossed his face.  
  
"What happened then?" Mari asked softly.  
  
XXXXXXXXX  
  
Angel sat, catatonic with grief by his daughter's bedside. He didn't need the Coroner to tell him that his wife had been exsanguinated, that her neck had been snapped. He'd done it often enough himself to notice the signs. He didn't need the police to try and convince him it was the work of a random gang from out of town.  
  
He knew it was Spike. But now he had to think of Paloma. His last link to his beautiful Buffy was now lying beaten in the bed next to him. He'd always known that he'd outlive Buffy. But now it had actually happened, it hurt so much more than he could have imagined.  
  
"Angel?" A soft voice called to him. The newly-widowed Willow came in. She looked tired and devasted. The triple deaths of Giles, Buffy and her beloved Oz had been almost too much to take.  
  
"Hello." He managed to say, his eyes not leaving Paloma's bruised face for a second. Willow sat beside him, her hand finding his shoulder and squeezing him gently. He put his arms around her and together they wept.  
  
***  
  
Four months passed and Paloma improved a little day by day. Telling her that her mother and husband were dead shattered Paloma even more than Angel could have imagined and he truly thought she might die of heartbreak. But something kept her going, kept her from dying.  
  
Every day he sat with her in the hospital, sitting with her, the two of them mingled in their anguish. Then one day in September, Paloma went into labour.  
  
"Daddy!" She screamed. He stood by her, holding her hand as the contractions ripped through her body. It was a hard labour, the injuries she'd suffered making it so much worse.  
  
"It's OK baby, It's OK. Just push now, OK?" he coaxed her gently. After hours of pain, Paloma and Jason's little girl was born and now Paloma lay in her bed, exhausted.  
  
"She's beautiful." Angel told her.  
  
"Does she look like Jason?" Paloma whispered.  
  
"Yeah, she does."  
  
"I'd like to call her Mari. Remember that Daddy, Mari."  
  
"Sure. Mari. It's nice. Mari Mallone."  
  
"Mari Mallone." Paloma repeated.  
  
"OK."  
  
"You won't forget?"  
  
"No." He smiled. She managed a little smile in return.  
  
"Look after her, Daddy. She needs you. You're all she has now. Promise me, daddy." She insisted. Angel's eyes widened as he realised what she was saying.  
  
"No. Paloma......."  
  
"Promise me." She repeated firmly. His eyes filled with tears, and he nodded.  
  
"I promise." He whispered.  
  
"I love you daddy." She said like a child. Then, a smile passed across her face and her eyes closed.  
  
Paloma looked serene. Angel sat by her side, holding her daughter in his arms. His granddaughter. She was all he had left in the world. Hate filled his veins, every pore, every fibre throbbed with hate. All he could see was Spike, all he could think was Spike. He vowed to kill Spike, to cause Spike as much pain as was on Angel's shoulders right now.  
  
XXXXXXXXX  
  
"So, what happened next?" Mari asked, her eyes brimming with tears.  
  
"I went after him. I left you with Niagara and I went after him. I found him in Las Vegas."  
  
"Did you kill him in Las Vegas?"  
  
"No. I tortured him in Las Vegas. I brought him back to Sunnydale to die. I doused him in Holy Water, poked at him with crosses, I set light to him. It was like I was Angelus again. I was so mad with grief that I went crazy myself. Then Xander found me there in Las Vegas and persuaded me to come home. So I brought Spike back with me and then Xander and I introduced him to Mr. Pointy, Buffy's favourite stake. She was given it by the first 'other' slayer, Kendra. But after that, Xander, Cordelia and Willow made me pull myself together for your sake. I promised Paloma I'd look after you no matter what. I wanted to protect you from all the evil things in the world. And I would have succeeded if it weren't...."  
  
"Weren't for the fact that I'm the Slayer now." Mari finished for him. He nodded.  
  
"Why didn't you tell me all this?" She asked him.  
  
"Because it was all too painful. I can handle all the horrors I committed as Angelus. I can do the feeling guilty thing. God knows I've had enough practice. But the thought of what Spike did to the people I cared most about.... I couldn't. I loved Buffy, I loved Paloma, I love you, and the thought of me outliving you too... Immortality isn't all it's cracked up to be."  
  
"I'll bet you're dying to get rid of that, huh?" she joked. He smiled at her. He looked in the box and found a photograph of Paloma, lying in her hospital bed, holding her tiny daughter.  
  
"That's Paloma with you." He said softly. Mari stared at it. Paloma looked a lot like she did. Which figured, Paloma being her mother and all. She looked nice, like someone who would make a nice mother. Mari suddenly felt very empty.  
  
"I did my best." Angel told her, as if reading her mind.  
  
"Your best was... is... Very good." she smiled up at her grandfather.  
  
No matter how long she lived, she would never witness such horrors as he had seen, never experience the pain he had. She didn't know how he'd managed. He handed her another picture, this time of her father. She'd never seen a picture of him before. He was handsome. She liked him. He looked like the kind of dad who would play catch with her, something Angel could only do in the dark hours.  
  
She wanted a normal life with her mom and dad but that option had been taken away from her before she was even born. But she had Angel. She placed her little hand in his bigger one.  
  
"You did good." She told him.  
  
"I wanted to tell you all this, but I never... There was never a good time. How do you tell a child all that?"  
  
"Like you just did. Thank you granddad." She said, getting up. She smiled at him.  
  
"Time to patrol." she picked up her bag of weapons and headed up the stairs.  
  
***  
  
Mari walked cautiously through the cemetery, using every sense she had to find vampires and other demons. But there were none to be found. So, feeling a little deflated, especially after everything Angel had told her, she walked back through town. It was, as one might imagine at that time of night, deserted. Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her and without thinking she spun around and knocked it to the ground. Or rather, him. It was a person.  
  
"Oh my God! I'm so sorry!" She exclaimed, helping him to his feet. Once over the initial shock of hitting an innocent bystander down, she really saw him for the first time.  
  
He was wearing a beautiful dark purple silk shirt and finely tailored black trousers. A gold cross hung around his neck. And his face... Mari was in love instantly, such was his exquisite beauty.  
  
"That's OK, I guess. Most people would react similarly. It's dark and all."  
  
"Dark. And all." She repeated. "Sorry."  
  
"Really, its OK. Since you knocked me over, maybe you can help me. I'm looking for Peachtree Road."  
  
"Peachtree Road?"  
  
"Uh huh. I just moved there. I went for a walk and now I have no idea where I'm going." He laughed nervously.  
  
"You're new in town."  
  
"Yeah. Just moved here with my dad. I have to find my way to the high school tomorrow. That should be interesting." He smiled, a quirky, slanty little grin that reminded her of Angel.  
  
"You're in school?"  
  
"I'm a junior starting Sunnydale High School as of tomorrow." He said, mock grandly.  
  
"Yeah? Me too. Well, I don't start tomorrow, but I'm a junior at Sunnydale." She laughed nervously.  
  
"Maybe you could show me round?" He asked.  
  
"Well, since I'm starting today, why not? And I still owe you for knocking you down."  
  
"Oh, forget it. Happens to me all the time." He grinned again.  
  
***  
  
Across the street in the shadows, a tall man in a leather coat with dark spiky hair grinned, a quirky, slanty little grin. A little of him was growling in protective anger, but the rest of him kept it down. He smiled and hoped that Buffy and Paloma were watching and were as proud of Mari as he was.  
  
THE END 


End file.
